Graduated in 1981 from the College of Afro-Asian Studies affiliated to the Moscow State University, Department of Arabic.

Ph.D. at the Institute of Philosophy, Centre for Oriental Philosophies, in 1989. The Ph.D. thesis “Philosophy of Ibn `Arabi” is a systematic exposition of Muhyi al-Din Ibn `Arabi's philosophical views. Published in 1993 under the title “The Great Shaykh of Sufism” (in Russian), it is accompanied by the first full Russian translation of Ibn `Arabi's Fusus al-Hikam ("Bezels of Wisdom").

Doctor of Sciences at the Institute of Philosophy, Centre for Oriental Philosophies, in 1998, for thesis “Meaning-generating procedures in Medieval Arabic philosophy”, later enlarged and published under the title 'Logic of Sense'.

Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences since May 2006.

Current position Deputy Director, Institute of Philosophy under the Russian Academy of Sciences, Volkhonka 14, Moscow 119991, Russia; Head, Department of Philosophy of Islamic World in the Institute of Philosophy under the Russian Academy of Sciences; Deputy Rector for Science, State Academic University for Humanities; Head, Department of Oriental Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy, State Academic University for Humanities.

Courses in the Moscow University and other institutions:

• History of Medieval Islamic philosophy
• Islamic ethics
• Fusus al-Hikam as a philosophical text
• Arabic language and classical Arabic texts

1.  Velikiy Sheikh Sufizma. Opyt paradigmal'nogo analiza filosofii Ibn Arabi (The Great Shaykh of Sufism. A Sample of Paradigmatic Analysis of lbn 'Arabi's Philosophy). Moscow, 1993, 327 p. (in Russian, accompanied by the first full Russian translation of Ibn `Arabi's Fusus al-Hikam "Bezels of Wisdom")

2. Al-Kirmani, Hamid al-Din. Uspokoyeniye razuma. Vvedeniye, perevod, kommentarii (Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani. Rahat al-`aql "Peace of mind". Introduction, translation and commentary). Moscow, 1995, 510 p. (in Russian); reviewed in the Bulletin of the SOAS

3. Logika smysla: teoriya i yeyo prilozheniye k analizu klassicheskoy arabskoy filosofii i kulturi  (Logic of Sense. Theory and Its Application in the Analysis of Classical Arabic Philosophy and Culture). Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Cultures, 2001, 504 p. (in Russian; English edition); (reviewed in: Transcendent Philosophy; Spektrum Islam)

4. Logiko-smysloviye osnovaniya arabo-musulmanskoy kulturi: semiotika i izobrazitel'noye iskusstvo (Logic-and-meaning Foundations of Islamic Culture: Semiotics and Fine Arts). Moscow: IFRAN, 2005, 256 p. (in Russian)

5. La Filosofia Mistica e la ricerca della Verita / Pres. et trad. Alberto De Luca. Roma: Simmetria, 2005 (Mystical Philosophy and the Quest for Truth - in Italian)

6. Il vortice divino. Il monismo come interdipendenza tra zâhir-bâtin: il punto di vista musulmano e la filosofia mistica di Ibn ´Arabî // Dialegesthai. Rivista telematica di filosofia. 5 dicembre 2008 - in Italian.

7. O podkhode k sravnitelnomu izucheniyu kultur (What does ‘comparative study of cultures’ mean?). Saint-Petersburgh: SPb. Trade Unions Humanitarian University Publishing House, 2009, 121 p. (in Russian)

8. Rossia i musulmanski mir: inakovost kak problema (Otherness Problematized: Russia and Islamic World). Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Cultures, 2010, 523 p. (in Russian, co-authored)

9. Logic of Sense. Theory and Its Application in the Analysis of Classical Arabic Philosophy and Culture (excerpts; full text in preparation for publication)

in Bosnian:

1. Ibn Haldūn i njegova nova nauka // Dijalog. Časopis za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju, broj 1-2, Centar za filozofska istraživanja ANUBiH (CFI), Sarajevo, 2010, str. 169 – 193

in Bulgarian:

1. Понятието за объркване хайра в суфизма и ислямското изскуство: съзерцанието на орнамента през призмата на Фусус ал-хикам // Orientalia: Списание за Изтока, София: Нов Български Университет, 2005, № 1, с.77 - 85 [English version]

 

in Chinese:

1. 全球化与民族文化：在当代丹尼列夫斯基教给了我们什么 (National cultures and globalisation: Interpreting Danilevsky's message today) // Journal of Suzhou University/ Philosophy & Social Science. 2007, №5, p. 1-4
2. 斯米尔诺夫。是否存在 ‘东方哲学’ ：简论一个古老的问题 ‘什么是哲学’。价值与文化。第六集。304－313页。北京，北京师范大学出版社，2009。(Does "Eastern Philosophy" exist? Another approach to "What is philosophy?" problem) // Values and Culture. Beijing: Beijing Normal University publishing group, 2009. №6, pp. 304-313

 

in English:

1. The Path to Truth. Ibn `Arabi and Nikolai Berdiaev (Two Types of Mystical Philosophizing) // Russian Studies in Philosophy. Winter 1992-93/vol.31, N 3. M.E.Sharp, Armonk, New York, 1993, p.7-39.

2. Nicholas of Cusa and Ibn `Arabi: Two Philosophies of Mysticism // Philosophy East and West. A Quarterly of Comparative Philosophy. Honolulu, vol.43, N 1, January 1993, p.65-86.

3. Understanding Justice in Islamic Context: Some Points of Contrast with Western Theories // Philosophy East and West. A Quarterly of Comparative Philosophy. Honolulu, vol. 46, N 3 (July 1996), p.337-350.

4. Toward a Comprehensive View of Jewish Philosophy: the Middle Ages and the Modern Era  // Jewish Philosophy and the Academy. ed. E.L.Fackenheim and R.Jospe. Madison-Teaneck, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, London: Associated University Presses, 1996, p.93-99.

5. Causality and Islamic Thought, in: A Companion to World Philosophies, ed. E. Deutch and R. Bontekoe, Blackwell publishers, 1st ed., 1997, pp.493-503.

6. Truth and Islamic Thought, in: A Companion to World Philosophies, ed. E. Deutch and R. Bontekoe, Blackwell publishers, 1st ed., 1997, pp.437-447.

7. The Universe as a Phenomenon of Language: Sa‘adiah Gaon’s Commentary to the Book of Creation. — in: Paradigms in Jewish Philosophy, ed. R.Jospe, London, Associated University Presses, 1997, pp.87-111.

8. Do the Fundamentals of Rationality in Different Philosophical Traditions Correspond? A comparative study of Zeno’s paradoxes and teachings of early Kalām // Islam - West Philosophical Dialogue: the papers presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2004, p.109-120.

9. Al-Fiqh al-Akbar of Abu Hanifa and Early Islamic Philosophy: Mutual Influences. Summary, introduction, translation, and commentary - in: Yearbook of the Russian State University for Humanities. N.4, part II. Moscow: RSUH Press, 2000, pp.52-86

10. The Sufi Concept of Being: How Unlimited Universal Tolerance Could Be? (Onto-Logical Foundation of Ultimate Religious Tolerance) - Paper presented at the International Conference The role of Sufism and Muslim brotherhoods in contemporary Islam. An alternative to the political Islam? (Turin, 20-22 November 2002)

11. Dualism and Monism: How Different the Two Versions of Sufi Ethics Really Are? - Paper presented at the International Conference on Mawlawi Rumi organized by the Institute of Islamic Studies, London and The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London (London 25-26 January 2002)

12. Ṣūfī Ḥayra and Islamic Art: Contemplating Ornament through Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam - Paper presented at the International Conference Sufism, gnosis, art: the thought of Ibn Arabi and Shah Nimatullah (Seville, 22-23 November 2004) organized by the University of Seville and Inter Cultural Center, USA

13. Book review: Salman H. Bashier. Ibn al-‘Arabī’s Barzakh. The Concept of the Limit and the Relationship between God and the World. Albany: SUNY Press, 2004 // Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society. Oxford: Vol. XL, 2006, p.120-125

14. Cultural Diversity as Logic-and-Meaning Otherness: the Case of Knowledge and Faith // Knowledge and Belief in the Dialogue of Cultures. Washington, D.C.: Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences; The Council for Researches in Values and Philosophy, © 2011, pp. 129-133

15. The Hellenizing Philosophers // The Oxford Handbook of World Philosophy / Ed. Jay L. Garfield and William Edelglass. NY: Oxford University Press, © 2011, pp. 397-409

in Italian:

1. Il concetto di "essere" nel sufismo: quale spazio per una tolleranza universale? Il problema della diversità religiosa // Sufismo e confraternite nell'isiam contemporaneo: Il difficile equilibrio tra mistica e politica. [Torino]: Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli, 2003, p.27—45 [English version]

2. Nicola di Cusa e Ibn ‘Arabi: Due Filosofi del Misticismo // Rivista di Ascetica e Mistica, Anno 74, 2005, n. 2 April-Giugno. Firenze: Convento S. Marco, p.317-354 [English version]

3. La Ḥayra [perplessità] Ṣūfī  e l’Arte islamica: La contemplazione della decorazione attraverso i Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam // Atrium: Centro Studi Metafisici e Tradizionali. Lavarone: Anno X (2008), № 2, pp. 110-123

in Japanese:

1. アンドレイ・スミルノフ　スーフィーの存在理解－無限定で普遍的な寛容はいかにして可能か（究極的宗教的寛容の存在論的基盤） - 東洋学術研究  /Journal of Oriental Studies. Tokyo: The Institute of Oriental Philosophy, 2009, vol. 48, № 2, pp. 143-167. [English version]

in Persian:

1. Aya mabani-yi ‘aqlaniyyat dar sunun-i falsafi-yi mukhtalif ba ham mutabaqat darand? Mutali‘a-yi tahqiqati-yi paraduksha-yi Zinun wa kalam mutaqaddim // Mulla Sadra: ‘Irfan, kalam wa din (Majmu‘a-i maqalat-i humayish-i jahani-yi hakim-i mulla Sadra. Awwal-i khurdadmah 1378 [1999], Tehran). Tehran, 1383 [2004] [English version]

2.  آندری اسمیرنوف. حیرت صوفیانه و هنر اسلامی. تأمّلی در بارۀ تزیین از منظر فصوص الحکم. (ترجمۀ اسماعیل پناهی) // عرفان ایران (مجموعۀ مقلات) 33، 34. تهران: حقیقت، 1387. ص. 179-196
   Hayrat-i Sufiyane wa hunar islami. Ta’ammoli dar bare-ie tazayyon az manzar-e Fusus al-Hikam // Irfan-e Iran (majmua-ie maqalat). #33, 34. Tehran: Haqiqat, 1387, p.179-196.

in Russian: Please refer to the Russian list of publications.

 

  Note: More information is to be found at my Russian page, including e-texts of publications, articles on Arabic philosophy and ethics in encyclopedias, and the Dictionary of Medieval Arabic Philosophy.

 

Comments and feedback are welcome

Last update: 15 July 2011

© Andrey Smirnov 1999-2011

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